Chapter 21- Detective Beckett

Disclaimer – silly little thing that it is, not mine.

Rated M for language.

Kate looked down at their intertwined fingers as Castle played with the ring on her finger. It was oddly erotic to watch him twirling the ring around her finger.

"Have I told you that you have excellent taste in rings?"

"You approve?"

"What girl wouldn't love it, it's gorgeous and unavoidable."

"Unavoidable?"

Smirking a bit, "Big, okay it's really, really big."

Laughing Castle answered, "That was Alexis' response."

Crinkling her brow, "What does she think of all this?"

Castle twisted in his seat to face Kate, "A hesitant thumbs up."

"Hmm, that sounds ominous."

"Not really, Alexis is cautious by nature. A lot like you, speaking of Alexis, she has decided to stay in New York."

Kate shot Castle a quizzical look, "Really?"

"Yes, Alexis told me she told you about Stanford."

Smiling, Kate responded, "Told you Alexis would tell you all in good time."

"I am still not sure if I should be jealous or mad."

"How about happy?"

"Happy?"

"Sure, that your kid trusts me enough to talk to me about important stuff and trusts that I won't tell you if she asks me not to. That has to count for something."

"Hmmpf."

Kate rolled her eyes at Castle's inability to agree, "Now tell me about New York."

Beaming he replied, "She picked Columbia."

"Good."

"Good? I thought you would find it kind of cool if she went to Stanford."

"Alexis picked Stanford because she was running from something not TO something."

"What else did she tell you?"

Castle's jealous tone caused Kate to roll her eyes and smile, "Not too much, Alexis was worried that if she stayed in New York that you would keep smothering her."

Castle righted himself in his seat, "I smother her?"

"You need to let her move out and grow up without stalking her."

"Stalking?"

"Please, Alexis told me how for the first week of high school you parked your car across the street and watched the building all day. And that you insisted on driving her home."

"I was being responsible."

Kate burst out in a fit of giggles, "Oh, and Alexis shared how campus security knocked on your car window because they thought you were some kind of perv watching young girls."

Castle dipped his head in humiliation and shook his head, "Is nothing sacred between a father and a daughter?"

Reaching over to squeeze his bicep, "It's sweet, but no girl wants to come home with a boy and catch their dad loitering outside their dorm room." Leaning into drop a kiss on Castle's cheek, Kate whispered, "And that is what Alexis was running from."

"That's it right there; the whole bringing a boy back to the dorm room scenario, it makes me lose sleep at night."

Squeezing his arm again, "Ah, Rick it's going to happen, she wouldn't be normal if it didn't."

Clenching his fist and pounding it into his thigh, "I know, I know. I still remember dropping her off at kindergarten in her little plaid skirt, pigtails and Mary Jane's. The concept of growing up upsets me."

"Pretend she is living across the country and you'll do just fine."

"No, I won't. If you didn't know about Columbia, I am guessing you don't know about the rules."

"Rules?"

"Immediately after Alexis announced she had chosen Columbia she handed me a two page nicely typed and outlined list of rules. Rule #1 – No driving by campus or her dorm, Rule #2 – No unannounced visits, Rule #3 – Limit of 3 phone calls per day…you get the idea."

Dropping the tone of her voice to be a little nurturing laced with a bit of sexiness, "Rick would it help if I let you drive my place, welcome you with open arms when you show up unannounced and love that you call more than three times a day?"

"Um, no."

Was that a twinkle in his eye? "No?"

Smiling with purpose, Rick replied, "Personally, I was planning on living together once we are married."

Castle started gently rotated her ring, a little left and a little right, anything to play with it and watch the lights of the limo catch the glitter of the diamond.

Kate shook her head in disbelief, how could she forget she was engaged? Blushing a bit and clearing her throat, she tentatively asked, "So, um how long until we reach your place?"

Castle held out his arms so that Kate could pull back his sport jacket to expose his watch. He wasn't going to let go of her hand, the ring looked like a branding and he liked it. Looking at the time Castle announced, "Forty to forty-five minutes."

Kate smirked as she dropped his hand into his lap and wrestled her left hand away from him.

Castle pouted, "Hey, I was holding that hand!"

Ignoring him, Kate slid to the edge of her seat to slip out of her shoes. Next she grasped the hem of her shirt and leisurely pulled it over her head.

Castle balled his hands into tight fists. Damn, he was right…no bra. Steadying his brain, Castle rasped out, "I thought you said no limo sex."

Placing her neatly folded shirt on top of her shoes, Kate stretched out her legs, "Well, Mr. Castle…"

"Don't call me that."

Smiling with fake innocence, Kate murmured, "Why not?"

Shutting his eyes, "You know it gets me um, well you know."

"Excited? Aroused?"

"Yes and Yes." Did she have to use that sexy tone of voice? The one that made want to rip her clothes off?

Castle opened his eyes to see Kate feathering her fingers over the top button of her pants. He stripped himself of his sport jacket and tossed it onto Kate's lap. "Put that on."

Oh she had him. Knocking his jacket to the ground, Kate flicked her tongue over the edges of her lips and held his eyes with hers.

Castle's eyes had turned a molten purple, if there even was such a thing. "As I was saying, Mr. Castle – 12 minutes of limo sex doesn't sound appealing…" Tugging her zipper down to expose her lacey panties, "…HOWEVER, 40 minutes of we just got engaged love making is something that I can fully embrace. Interested?"

Rick's hands were reaching for her as he pitched forward and growled, "You have no idea."

Relaxing into her back against his chest, wearing nothing but his sport coat, Kate let out a content little sigh, "Hopefully, that made up for 'no limo sex' ."

Rick's chest rumbled with laughter, "Nope."

Kate quickly delivered a sharp elbow to the ribs, "You have got to be kidding."

Slipping his hands to her abdomen, "Nope, I still want to have hot dirty limo sex." Skimming his fingers along the dip in her hips, "You see, I want to tease you into it when you least expect it."

Kate swatted his hands away, "You put your hands were I can see them. I want to finish talking about Alexis."

Castle reluctantly withdrew his hands from her belly and placed them on top of the material of his jacket. "I would rather talk about how absolutely sexy you look wearing nothing but my coat and my ring."

Fighting to keep it together and not give into the sensual rumble in his voice, "And I would rather talk about Alexis."

Castle pouted but acquiesced, "Party pooper."

"Before you said Alexis gave us a hesitant 'thumbs up', I need to know what that means.

With twinkly teasing blue eyes he teased, "Alexis obviously loves me…."

Rolling her eyes, Kate squeezed his hand, "Can we get to the part about me, oops US?"

Now Castle's body shook with laughter, "Is that how it's going to be? All about you?"

"Hey now, I ended with an 'US'?

"Yes, and 'us' may just be my new favorite word."

"Castle, give. You sound like you are avoiding the answer."

"Alexis likes you and as we already established loves me."

Castle took note of the frustration brewing in Kate's eyes, "Alexis is skeptical about our ability to communicate."

Kate burst out with a laugh full of relief, "Knew I liked that kid."

"Hey, hey – what's that mean?"

"Means she is right, we have spent too much time in the land of avoidance."

"Avoidance?"

"Well that sounded better than saying we are better at trusting each other with our lives then our hearts."

Cocking his eyebrow a bit, "You have a point." Tugging on the ring on her finger, "Correction, you had a point. I'd say we are communicating just fine now."

"Much improved, but we both know I should have trusted you enough to tell you that I heard you. You were capable and willing to understand that I needed time to get my shit together and that you would wait. WAY too much time was spent communicating via subtext over the past year."

Castle's heart clenched with guilt, Kate was right he didn't trust her. Part of him was scared to death that she would run straight into the eye of the storm if he told her about 'the deal' to keep her safe. Or worse yet she would leave him. But he knew Richard Castle knew that if Kate said 'I do', she would stay with him and find a way to forgive him.

Stuffing his guilt back down his throat, Castle conceded, "You might have something there."

There was something in his voice that caused Kate's heart to stutter. The words were fine, but he was, he was…she wasn't sure what it was but her detective radar was going off.

Twisting out of Castle's arms to face him, she saw it. Maybe she was looking for it so she saw it but there was a hint, a flicker of worry in his eyes. "Castle are you holding out on me?"

Pretending to be confused, he shook his head, "No, Alexis is just worried that we will struggle with trusting each other."

"That's it?" Castle catches a glimmer of concern in Kate's eyes. She tried to school her face to remain blank and her eyes emotionless, but she blew it and she knew it. Kate knew it because Rick flinched. Why did he flinch?

Selecting her words carefully, "Well, I have put everything on the table, have you?"

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat Castle answered with a monotone, "Yes."

There it was again, a trace of something – was it guilt? Her gut was in overdrive, something wasn't right. "Would you like to try that answer again?"

Fuck. Kate wasn't going to drop it; she was in full on interrogation mode. The forward tilt of her head, her right hand forming a slight fist, eyes piercing him to his soul – Kate was gone and Detective Beckett was doing what she did best…digging for a confession.

There was only one word in Richard Castle's mind – fuck.